Selling ISO 9000:2000 to the CEO

摘要

As December 15, 2003, the deadline to convert to the ISO 9000: 2000 standards, looms closer, Quality Managers are often finding they are faced with two challenges. First, they must evaluate their current quality systems in preparation for the transition. The second, and often the greater of the two challenges, is convincing top management of the continued benefits of their ISO registration. In the past, many companies seeking registration to the ISO 9000:1994 standard tended to focus on complying with the Standard's requirements, often at the expense of seeing real improvement in the quality of their products or service. As a result, many quality management systems today are structured around the clauses of this standard and, to a greater or lesser extent, consist of sets of procedures and work instructions grouped by company function such as sales, production, distribution or accounts. In the last 5-10 years the more progressive companies have developed their systems in line with quality improvement initiatives such as quality cost measurement systems, customer-supplier initiatives and other quality related activities. While these activities have lead to some improved performance, senior management has often continued to seriously question the value of these systems for improving company performance relative to the cost of maintaining them. This same group continues to view Quality Management as something separate from Business Management. In line with this perception. quality management has failed as a mechanism for meeting their business objectives. The most common themes executive level leaders are expressing are: ·Limited return on investment, ·Excessive documentation which is perceived as inflexible and difficult to access, ·High cost of maintenance, ·Difficult to measure system's effectiveness, ·Little, if any, relevance to customer satisfaction, and ·No contribution to business improvement